Frequently it is desired to relocate underwater objects which are at great depths and in dark or murky waters. Due to the difficulty of relocating these objects, several methods and systems have been devised that include buoys secured to the object by canister lines which may be released by remote signal, most commonly a sonic signal. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,430 issued to Cochrane, et al. Other subsea relocation systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,739,296; 2,594,702; 3,722,014; 4,262,379; and 3,066,325. Further, remote activator release mechanisms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,199,070 and 3,729,755.
All of the disclosed systems require a line containing canister which is placed near the subsea object. A separate buoy is attached to the canister line, the buoy being released by a remote signal and rising to the surface carrying the canister line which pays out of the canister. This type of an arrangement often causes problems in that the line becomes tangled, requiring a special non-hackling rope as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,430. Further, such devices as disclosed in the above patents include a multitude of parts, all of which have to be located near the subsea object.
The present invention does away with the necessity of the line containing canister and greatly simplifies the system used to relocate subsea objects. The present invention does not require a separate buoy and canister, and the advantages of the instant invention are readily apparent. The simplicity of the invention of using a buoyant line containing spool with the line and the spool being connected to a pennant line by a remotely operated release mechanism does away with the necessity of having a line containing canister and non-hackling line. Further, the specific configuration of the spool such that is rises to the surface with its horizontal axis being parallel to the surface when constrained by the line on the spool, allows the line to pay out evenly and prevents entangling. Lastly, the simplicity of the present invention provides a convenient and inexpensive method of relocating subsea objects.